Pokemon: Switching Worlds
by DarkMewGrl
Summary: A 13 year old girl called Hannah lives in our world, with her extreme love for Pokémon. One night, she has a very strange dream, and it's all a bit too real. When she wakes up, she realizes she's not in our world... but in the Pokémon world. And she discovers that's not the only new suprise. Something's wrong... this shouldn't be happening...
1. 1: The Dream

Episode 1

I chuckle to myself as I play _another_ episode. The 12th one today. I've had little work left over from school today- and instead of catching up on homework that's in for later in the week

I spend my time on my 5th Pokémon marathon.

Ok- chill. It's not _every_ Pokémon episode ever

That would be redicoulous

And near impossible as to how busy my life has been recently

No, I'm only watching a specific series

Obviously my favorite one as well. Because I believe it to be the best series ever

And it is.

I just love the plot, the characters, the- **ahem** \- 'hint' of romance and the new Pokémon that came along with the new region

That's right- the XY and XYZ series

I reposition myself on my bed so my feet don't die on me...

Again

Once the intro- short but catchy- finnishes, I instinctively lean closer into the screen and listen carefully for the voice to introduce me to the new episode

"And-"

"HANNAH!" My mother interrupts from downstairs "GO TO BED! You have school tomorrow! And you have that test in the morning!"

"I have a test?" I ask down cheekily as I pause the video.

"Don't make me come up there!" My mother warns in a scolding voice.

I roll my eyes as I grumpily go to the door, iPad still in hand, as I kick the door shut with my swift moves

"There" I sigh as I tred back to my bed, and jump into it with a bounce

But before I can even press the 'play' button that taunts me on the screen, my mother's voice can be heard again in a much more angry tone

"HANNAH! Don't you dare make me come up there!" She screeches

I grumble to myself "it's almost like she's psychic" as I place the iPad down on the floor beside my bed, plugging it in as I do so.

Faster than a lightning attack, I quickly change into my pajamas

"I guess she's right" I tut to myself as I get into my bed. And I'm presented with the odd feeling of the mattress being both warm and cold from me sitting on top of it- only warming the top half doing so

"You'd better have plugged that iPad in!" Mums voice calls out

"Yes" I growl down to her, before getting nice and comfortable and turning off the bedside light.

...

... ...

... ... ...

"I can't sleep" I grumble

I roll over, the new position only feeling fresh for a few moments- but thats enough for me to clasp onto the dangling rope of sleep, as I slowly start to pull myself up into my dreaming state, a warm smile on my face as the memories of Pokémon fresh in my mind from only moments earlier

I open my eyes to be presented in a dark, gloomy atmosphere. I'm standing up and in normal day clothes

Ah so this is a dream

My consciousness seems to be working normally... check

I can control myself completely... check

And I'm in first person... check

Lucid dream is confirmed

I slowly begin to walk forward. Not scared, may I point out, I'm just curious as to what this dream presents

And whether or not it's a nightmare

The smokey atmosphere seams to thicken. I squint my eyes- like that'll do anything- and I raise a hand up to cast a shadow over my eyes as if it's bright

But it's not

It's dark.

I stop walking and sigh. This dream isn't very interesting. I plop myself onto the wet floor in annoyance

Doing so kicks up some leaves.

Leaves huh? I look down. The floor... what kind of dream makes the floor most interesting?

The floor is covered in leaves that float on water. The water isn't just a puddle though, it seams to go really deep down. I frown. I'm sitting on the water

Though I guess this is rather calm for how crazy the dreams I usually get are

I swivel around onto hands and knees, staring at my reflection in the puddle. I hesitantly raise a hand, before slowly reaching it down into the water. It goes through, this time the puddle actually acting like water

I take my hand out, it comes out dry

"Huh" I say "ok then, what about this"

With one sudden glimpse of bravery, I suck in air and hold my breath as I dive forward head first into the puddle

The world around me flips- rather nauseating me- as I come up on the other side of the puddle. I now stand on where there seams to be a scorch mark on an invisible floor

"This is a really weird dream" I stutter. I look up. A bright sun shines- quite close, taking up the whole of the sky. And even closer to me are thunder clouds, sudden bursts of lighting coming now and again, scorching the ground here and there

I take a deep breath out as I begin to walk forward through this altered reality. The atmosphere is still rather foggy- but it's easier to see with the really big sun

Like, _really_ big

I rub my forehead from the sweat I produced from the heat coming off the sun

"I recon if I'm here much longer I'm going to boil" I say, before breaking into a pant

-ok, I know panting is an animal kind of thing, I've been told that lots, but... it's both fun, entertaining and it works! So if I look stupid, so what?

A ringing is heard in my ears. I wince as I press my hands against my ears, the heat being forced on me no longer apparent as the clouds fly away, the the sun shrinks to nothing quick enough for me to have stained eyes from the fast moving light

And speaking of light, a tall, bright beam of pure white light erupts from before me. Quite far away it seams

The beam sends out a blast of wind that- when it rushes past me- cools me down enough from the heat for me to feel comfortable in my skin

Confident my dream wants me to go into the light, I begin making my way to the Beacon

In fact, the light isn't as far as way as it seams, no- it's actually quite close.

As I walk I squint as the light intensifies from how close I am to its presence. The light... it multiplied as I get closer? No... it splits.

In fact, it's not one light, it's four. Each of different colours

As I get closer this becomes more apparent to me as I can single out each colour of all four, one's yellow, one's red another's green and the last is blue

Huh... it's actually not that bright now that I'm close up

Not as light as I'd thought it would be anyway...

Each beam... there's something in them... yeah- a figure in each. All are different sizes, different shapes even. I can't pick out any features yet, other than their colours... they all match to the colour beam they're within.

As I get closer, I begin to presume what they are

I hope they're what they think

I think they are...

Are they?

Yeah! I think they are!

Yes! Definitely! They're Pokémon!

Pikachu, charizard, sceptile And greninja!

All of them are producing the light

But what does this all mean? Dreams are said to be figments of something in your life... emotions or thoughts personified or made into a scene

Then what on earth is this all meant to mean?

I dare to get closer, the intense pressure of the light and energy radiating off each of them

They all seam to be in pain, using up all of their power to create up this light

"What is this for?" I shout at them, they don't even react "what is the point of this dream? Of this light you seem to be sacrificing so much for to produce? There's no-one here but me!"

"It is for you my darling" a male, deep voice comes from above me. I look up to where I heard it, seeing nothing

"Fear not, this is your destiny" the disembodied voice reassures

"Wot" is all I think of to say, completely baffled by this all. This is not a dream someone like me would be able to whip up- my dreams are far more wild and power filled

The voice, along with another, female voice chuckle

"Who are you?" I ask, my focus being taken off the exhausted Pokémon before me

"Oh, you'll know if you saw us- we wouldn't want to ruin the Surprise" the female giggles cheerily- almost menacingly, the source being invisible and all

I pout childishly, and I look back at the Pokémon. The energy they produce leans into each other. As they all cross paths the Pokémon begin to glow

"What-" I begin, but the male disembodied voice interjects with "just watch"

I shut up and watch as all the Pokémon give out cries, the light conjoining into a bright ball of white light

Their bodies change, some only by little, some quite drastically.

After a few moments of me silently watching this presentation, the white ball of light suddenly dimmens. The Pokémon stop growing to reveal their new forms

Ash-pikachu, mega charizard X, mega sceptile and ash-greninja

They all stand there limp and unmoving. I ask aloud, my eyes not moving from them "What was that about? Are they Ash's Pokémon? Because he has all these Pokémon and pikachu and greninja are-"

"You ask lots of questions!" The female voice giggles "just look up!"

I quickly cock my head up to see, where the white ball of light once was, a feather. Just a single feather. It gracefully falls, swaying side to side as glides down. The chimming of high-pitched bells can be heard as this happens

I watch it silently, mesmerized by some aura it gives off. I can't physically take my eyes off of it, but I don't want to. It- it's beautiful

After its long decent, it finally touches the floor. Once it does, the Pokémon suddenly collapse to the floor, no sound made, no preparation. It was like they were hanging by a single string, and once the feather made contact with the floor, something cut it- letting them fall.

I wait a moment, uncertain as to what to do with myself, before slowly getting closer to the scene. I stand in between the Pokémon and I look either side at the four Pokémon whom lay there; out cold. What is this all about?

I look across to where the feature should have landed, only to see a hat turned upside.

It just sits there

A hat.

a _hat_

What- what does this all mean

I take a few steps forward to the hat and I stand just before it. I look into the cap and see the feather sitting in there, glowing lightly and looking pretty

"H- What?" I ask to nobody in particular

I bend down to pick up the feature, twidling it between my thumb and finger, the bell ringing from it as I do so. It glows like a rainbow

The rainbow wing

Courtesy of Ho-oh.

I pin it in my hair as I bend down to look at the cap.

I reach to pick it up, and I flip it over to see...

Ash's hat

Ash's kalos hat

But it's torn, worn, burnt. Barely recognisable

But I recognize it

I look up "what is this?" I ask, trying to address the disembodied voices, but they're gone

Or at least they don't answer

I sigh as I throw the hat back down onto the floor "I want to wake up now" I say as I take the feather out of my hair again and I it. It glows lightly before my vision fades, and I loose consciousness in this dream world

Let's just wake up and get in with the day

But...

But I don't want to go back to normal

And with that, the feature gives off one last, bright glow before I wake up softly.


	2. 2: Rough landing

Episode 2

"Ngggghhhh" I moan as I gain consciousness. I sit up and run my eyes to wake myself up. I let out a long, wide-mouthed yawn to wake up my jaw and throat

Finally feeling like I'm at least half awake, I fully open my eyes wide with quick blinks as I swivel around to fully sit up in my bed

I reach my arms up, stretching my back "god, why do I feel so _stiff_?" I ask myself, massaging my back with my hands

I'm about to get up, before I catch my mother's voice downstairs- alongside the sizzling of cooking breakfast

"Hey, could you go wake Hannah up? She should be down by now"

I frown in confusion. My dad's out on a business trip, My brother- Alex- gets up early to go to school, and my sister- Isabelle- is off on a school trip. No one but mum should be here

Curiosity and confusion consume me, and with quick thinking, I decide to swivel around and back into bed, pretending to be asleep, awaiting for whoever mum referred to come up

With my eyes closed, I hear the door being opened, hearing the familiar creek that the door has adopted after the third day of buying it

Light footsteps, almost inaudible, bounce towards me arily

Who one earth could-

"CLAI!" A high pitches voice comes from the figure and it slaps me "YOW!" I screech as It's claws graze me

It's _claws_.

I sit up to look at it

What is this? Who are the-

My jaw hangs lower than humanly possible as I look at the figure that stands before me

I rub my eyes, shake my head, I even pinch myself to wake me up from a dream. But I'm awake. This is real.

This is real.

I'd expect me to be happy about this

Something I've dreamed of- hoped of- coming true

But I'm speechless

This- this is impossible- right?

A pink figure stands before me, just above hip height. It's rather plump and round, with small limbs and a little face . It has little curly ears and wings

"Clefable?" The creature asks

"Yeah... clefable" I stutter

I stand up, and reach out to touch it- to check if it's real, but it grabs my hand before so. I leans in, a concerned expression on its face "clef-a?" It asks

"W-What?" I stutter, stumbling backwards onto my bed. I hold my head in confusion and bewilderment

This can't be right

I've _finally_ gone crazy.

That dream has pushed me off the edge of sanity

I suddenly look up, eyes wide with wishful realization "could it be? That dream? It- no... this can't be happening..."

The clefable- or whatever it is- leans in and folds a paw against my head. I freeze from the contact of this fictional character. It gives off a frown and takes off its paw

"Clef- clefable" it frowns, before waddling our of my room and down the stairs "w-wait!" I call after it, springing out of my bed and lunging towards it to catch up. No longer dizzy from confusion.

We head down the stairs and into the kitchen. It's normal. Everything is normal. Nothing is different. Everything is place, even my mother

My mother... she doesn't seem to be overwhelmed by clefable's presence

I- am I the only one who's seeing this?

"Mum" I ask, she turns around from where she prepares breakfast and asks "hm?"

I point to clefable "are you seeing this too?"

"Seeing what?" Mum asks, yet she looks _at_ clefable "is something wrong with him?"

I stare blank eyed at her "e- I" I stutter

Mum gives a sympathetic look at puts down the sizzling sausages and bacon which she's been preparing and brings me unto a hug- which I found pretty uncomfortable given the gravity of the situation I have awoken to "oh sweetie, it's ok to be nervous. I was too. But don't worry much, it'll come to you." She releases me from her grasp, and points at the table, resting her other hand reassuringly on my shoulder "look, how about you sit down and we'll discuss the matter over some nice breakfast that's _almost_ done.

A little overwhelmed, I reluctantly walk over to the table and take a seat, not moving once sat. I stare at some table cloth on the table that covers something underneath. I don't touch it

I don't _dare_ touch it.

Mum comes moments later with three plates of hot breakfast. For me: bacon, sausages toast with the tiniest bit of butter and a decent sized splodge of ketchup

My favorite.

How can she know my favorite?

She's not my mother... is she?

She's exactly like her... but different... she's completely comfortable around clefable. Am I the only one new to this?

She sits down beside me and clefable takes the seat in the other side. I continue to stare unmovingly at the cloth

Mother notices this and follows my line of view before taking a sudden breath in saying "ahhh". I look at her "I'm sure you'd like to know what's under there"

"Yeah" I squeak hesitantly

She nudges her head to it, before taking in a forkful of her beans "go ahead" she says.

I look back at the cloth. I slowly reach my hand forward, steadily but shaking.

I feel like I'm making a big deal out of this

I should be- shouldn't I?

I'm sitting next to a Pokémon!

A living, breathing pokemon!

I suddenly snatch the cloth away, plucking it off so suddenly, it takes my eyes a moment to register what I see

Then I take another moment to register that what I am seeing is actually real

There's five of them

Perfectly spherical

Beautifully colored

Life-sized pokeballs

 _Pokeballs_

Like- impossible technology used to capture and tame impossible, fictional creatures in a fictional world

And there's five of them.

I look at clefable

I'm actually here. In the Pokémon world. I'm sitting next to a Pokémon. I've just received pokeballs. Are they real?

I pick one up, and turn it around in my hand, the weight satisfying enough to be able handle with ease and effectively throw far enough to catch distant Pokémon. The gleam of the button catches my eye

"You like them?" Mum asks "professor sycamore came 'round last week to drop them off, I thought I'd wait till today to give it to you"

"Pro-professor sycamore?" I stutter "like, the actual professor?" I ask

Mum frowns and pulls a funny 'your joking, right?' face "well, yeah. You do know what today is?"

Like when my Spanish teacher asks me to answer a question when I haven't been listening in the past 10 minuets; I stare at her blankly with hope for some miracle to be performed

"Clef" clefable sighs, suddenly stunning me as I had temporary forgotten of his presence

"Your getting your first Pokémon sweety! How could you forget?" Mum cheers, throwing her arms up

"M-my own p-Pokémon?" I ask

"Yes!" Mum cheers again like it was obvious. Her face turns worried "have you got amnesia again sweetie?"

"I-" I begin, before rubbing my head "I had a really weird dream" I admit

"Oh... baby..." she sighs, resting a palm on my shoulder sympathetically "well, I'm sure it was your nerves. I know you've been struggling to choose a Pokémon but believe me- once you see them there, all waiting for you, you'll know who to pick. I knew to pick clefable here when he was just a cleffa. I mean, he was the best out of a pichu and a togepi"

Clefable pulls a face at this, making mum giggle "I'm only joking~"

Yes, this is definitely my mother

But- all this info. Am I sure I'm not dreaming?

I'm in the Pokémon world

Apparently in kalos, according to the way mum has mentioned Professor sycamore

Presumably with the option of Pokémon being chespin, fennekin and froakie

And I'll set off on a Pokémon journey with friends

For the rest of my life

Am I stuck here? Will I ever be back in my old reality again?

Do I want to?

I munch on the toast, chewing slowly on the crunchy bread as I try and analyze the situation

I guess I'm being quite calm about the this all, considering the gravity of it

But I'm sure it'll hit me at some point. And when it does it'll hit me HARD. But I just need to face the facts. Cope with everything that's happening. Or else I'll be left behind

I continue to eat my breakfast, finishing just after mum and clefable. Mum picks up the dishes to clean them as I continue to look at the pokeballs. Turning them over and over in my palm

This... it's unreal

Yet this is reality now for me

Am I _really_ forever trapped in this alternate universe?

Have I switched worlds?

Can I switch back and forth between them?

"Hey! Hannah! Wake up!" Mum chuckles as she clicks in front of my face to get my attention. I suddenly perk up and look at her

Mum sighs with a smile, shaking her head as she places her hands on her hips before sitting back down beside me "you're really thinking hard about it. Sweetie, it _will_ come to you when you're there, I promise. This is a moment of fate. If something seams to be going wrong, don't worry. It's like that weird girl said on an interview last night. 'Destiny doesn't choose for you, you make decisions alongside destiny'

"Who said that?" I ask, rather confused. The phrase just has something... off about it

Mum dismisses it "some girl who's just started doing pokevisions. She and her fennekin have become really popular suddenly"

"What does she look like?" I ask

"Oh, red hair... often seen wearing... like a blue bow in her hair...?" She thinks aloud

"Aria?" I ask uncertainly

Mother clicks her fingers and points at me "That's the one. Point is, chill. You'll know who to pick when the time comes. Destiny will unfold for you to decide"

I nod my head "thanks"

"Well! Professor sycamore said you can go around to his laboratory whenever you'd like if you need help. A kind man he is. I'll be off to work" she says, standing up "I'll see you when you get back... hopefully. If not, call me. Remember- let destiny take you, don't let me pull you back here if it calls" she winks, before picking up a bag and leaving. "I recon you should get dressed before heading out though" She chuckles as she leaves

I frown again and look down at my clothing. Still in sleeping wear. Definitely couldn't wear this outside. Especially if- and when- I get my first ever Pokémon. As mother said, this is a big day

"Clef?" Clefable asks, suddenly jolting me as I remember he's there

"Fine" I say "god.. who to pick? Who should I pick?"

Clefable raises his hand as if he wants to answer my question. I look at him with a raised eyebrow "hmm?"

He gets down from the table and goes into the middle of the room

"Charades?" I ask, as I swivel around to face him "go on"

Clefable points to his tale, and mimes like his taking something out of it. He mimes twiddling that object around then casting it forward like a wand

"Braixen? You think I should choose fennekin?" I ask

Clefable nods his head enthusiastically

"I'll take it into consideration" I smile with a nod. Clefable smiles before trudging off to god knows where

I frown. Fennekin was my first Pokémon ever in the games, but this is real life. This is a much bigger thing. This time the fennekin with be real. With personality and actual powers. It'll evolve and grow with me, eventually into a delphox, and become psychic type

And psychic type is my favorite typing

But... god why is this so hard? Greninja is cool because it'a fast and can hide in the shadow like a ninja, chesnaut's got awesome physical strength, great defense and it's a big Pokémon

But i need to see who I connect with personally

Just like mum said

Because they're real beings as well.

I look at where clefable was sitting. I take a few deep thoughts into consideration, before I get up, scooping up the pokeballs with me, shoving it in my rucksack that's so conveniently perched next to the door. I swing the bag over my shoulder, I grab onto the front door... I'm still not dressed.

I drop everything, and I rush upstairs to my bedroom. Clothes that weren't there before are laid out on my bed. I frown. Perhaps clefable laid them out for me?

I shrug and I hold up the t-shirt to inspect it. A black t-shirt with little white-yellow dots specked around- a design of space. Not my kind of fashion, but it'll do. A purple hoody, dark blue jeans and a hat lay there as well. I quickly change into this, shoving on socks. I scoop my hair up into a high pony-tail and I head back downstairs. I pick out some boots that lay in the hallway- brown with a dark purple base

Perhaps I should pick out a hat. I search for hooks or a coatrack. Somewhere where it would be stored

I find some coathangers in a cupboard under the stairs. Only two hats are hung up. I take them both out and inspect them.

One of them is a straw hat with a violet ribbon, the other a cap with the psychic symbol on it, and a space design to match my t-shirt.

The straw hat being absolutely out of the question, I plop the cap on my head and hang the other hat up again, closing the cupboard door

I trot back to the door and I pick up my bag, feeling the pokeballs within it clank together as I swing it around into my back. I reach the door again and I open the handle. I stand there a few moments, before swinging the door open and being presented with the outdoors

And what a world I see as I do so

The road is flocked with houses, though each is beautiful and has its own touch to it. People roam the streets, some in groups, some alone.

But none of them are truely alone

Because pokemon. All pokemon from all regions. All shapes, sizes types and more.

There's so many of them

They're so _real_.

But I don't know how to cope with it all.

I sigh and look back to the front door, still open my a smidge. I then look back outside. Where adventures await

"Oh god that's just to cringey" I chuckle to myself as I close the door behind me, and step out onto the pavement. I curl my fingers around the arm loop things on the backpack and sigh

"I have no idea where the hell I am"


	3. 3: Familiar faces

Episode 3

I stand there, looking rather lost, as I helplessly look up and down the road, hands on hips. A passerby notices this and approaches

"Excuse me, do you need any directions?" The woman asks. I recognize her voice.

I swivel around to face her. Once I realize who it is I try to resist myself from gasping or squealing.

It's Grace. _The_ Grace

As in Serena's mother. _THE_ Serena's mother

I steady myself. Try and act natural.

Normal.

...

IT'S GRACE!

"I-err" I stutter, my body completely frozen from my exploding mind

Grace frowns "you're not from around here are you?" She asks

"N-no..." I stutter, still attempting to cope with the situation

"You ok?" Grace asks, getting increasingly curious as to why I can't just speak normally to her. Why can't I?

"Yeah." I manage to say without stuttering. A rather hard task at present with such circumstances.

"Oh good. Now, do you need directions?" She persists, clearly wanting to help me- but I'm taking up too much of her time. To her I'm just some random lost girl on the side of the street who's too scared to talk to her for some odd, unapparent reason.

I swallow before asking semi-confidently "Do you know where professor Sycamore's lab is?" Almost choking when saying the professors name. The fact I'm actually asking where a fictional character is, stuns me

Then again...

"Professor Sycamore?" Grace asks, tugging me suddenly back into reality. She smiles "why of course I know where he is!" She turns around and points down the road "continue down here, then turn on the second left. Professor Sycamore's lab is about half way down that road. It's quite hard to miss" She smiles then looks back to me "was that any help?"

I nod my head "Yes, thank you"

"Ok, bu-bye!" Grace smiles with a small wave before crossing the road to continue on with her life, not even bothered as to how I'll go on with mine. Often strange thinking about how big the world is.

I watch her walking away for a few moments before turning and letting a deep, shaky breath out

That was _the_ Grace. From the anime. I'm about to go to _the_ Professor Sycamore's lab. I think the gravity of this is all starting to catch up to me.

I stand there and and let out another smaller, much more controlled breath "act normal or else they'll start asking questions" I mutter, before beginning to walk down the road as Grace said "and that's the last thing you want"

How much really has changed? -From my home world? Are my school friends still here?

Is my school even still here?

Probably not. This pretty much the only time I'll ever miss my school... but, am I the only one here that doesn't belong? I mean, my mother's here, but she acts as if she's been around Pokémon all her life. So... is this an alternate universe to ours but with Pokémon? Then why have I got memories of a different world?

And this is Lumiose city... so it can't be a _complete_ copy of our world.

But then Kalos _is_ based of France...

But proffessor Sycamore isn't in our world

Nor is grace...

Well, not as far as I know.

But if grace is here, is Serena? I mean- Aria's here, as claimed by mum

Ugh... my head hurts...

I turn the corner sharply and look up. I gasp as I spot a large building about half way down the road that I recognize all too well.

"Oh. My. God!" I squeal like a fan girl at a concert. I quickly sprint into my fastest run, and I have skid to a stop outside the lab only seconds later

I bounce up and down on my feet "this is actually the lab! The lab that got blown up more than once by team rocket! Where Serena, Clement and Ash got froakie, fennekin and chespin!"

I gasp, before whispering under my breath with sparkling eyes "What if they're in this region?"

I giggle, as I walk up to the door with a new-found bounce in my step. I knock twice on the large double doors and wait patiently, rocking back and forth on my feet with young eager

I hear a lock being fiddled with on the other side a few moments later, and then the doors open to present a woman in a lab coat.

"Sophie!" I gasp with amazement mixed in with stunned Suprise

"-yes?" The assistant asks rather curiously. She clearly doesn't recognize me, and the fact I know her name with confidence puts her on instinctive alert

"I- Er. I'm Hannah. I'm getting my-" I begin, before Sophie clasps her hands together enthusiastically, interrupting my already patchy flow "oh! Hannah!" She chuckles "I'm sorry I didn't recognize you, come in, please!"

I step in past her as she opens the door wider, and I gape at the huge room I'm presented with. Red carpet rolls down the stairs and into the main area, many choices of exits leading to even more rooms to explore.

And it's so clean!

My house- my actual, home-world house- is a tip! But there's not even dust on the floor!

"Hannah, could you wait here a moment?" Sophie asks "You are quite early, I'll go and fetch Professor sycamore" she begins walking off to the right

"just wait here, I'll be a moment" she repeats, swiveling her torso around as she faces me when walking

Sophie then turns and runs off to the right exit.

I blink and look around the room some more. I- its all so real... yet at the same time it feels surreal. It's impossible for me to be here... yet I am. Nothing really exciting has happened yet, but I'm sure something will in time.

Well, if suddenly appearing in an alternate dimension where Pokémon exist doesn't count as exciting...

Just then, I hear panicked voices outside and loud stomping footsteps that pound up the stairs leading to the front entrance. I turn around just as the double doors open wide and two figures jog in on high adrenaline

My eyes widen and I gasp as I see who they are. I almost fall back from shocked surprise "I-I" I stutter. I place a hand on my chest, feeling my heart pounding to break free from my ribcage.

The older boy walks up to me and asks "Do you know where Professor sycamore is? This is urgent"

"I-i" I stutter again

It's Ash. Ash Ketchum from pallet town and his buddy pikachu. I- I can't. This is too much

He holds an injured froakie in his hands, and a younger girl with blond hair stands beside him

Bonnie

I'm temporarily brocken out of my bewilderment as another figure is introduced to the scene

Coming out of the right exit, Professor Sycamore lazily strides in "Hey Hannah, didn't think you'd get here this ea-" He begins, before noticing ash.

Or, more like noticing the froakie

Oh-god-oh-god-oh-god, this actually can't be happening! Yet it is! A scene I'm so familiar with is unfolding in front of my eyes!

"Are you the Professor?" Ash asks, holding forward froakie

"Whoa! Froakie!" He gasps as he runs towards the froakie and gently takes it out of Ash's hands

I stammer back as Ash and Bonnie explain the situation to Sycamore, their words blurring before they reach me, shock taking over.

I'm here. This scene... it's after team rocket attacked ash and froakie saved it. This is the third scene in the second episode... I- I'm reliving the anime

"Sophie! Get help!" Sycamore calls out. And like that, Sophie reappears- as if waiting in the shadows- on cue

"Can I do anything to help?" I interject, trying not to get lost in the panic

"Sorry, Hannah... in afraid not" sycamore sighs as Sophie takes froakie and rushes off and away "there's not much else to be done"

Suddenly, amongst the already high level of panic, the doors open and a fourth, extremely tired figure crawls his way in before collapsing on the floor

"Your so slow!" Bonnie moans with a teasing pout as she shakes her head

The forth figure raises his head and I can't help but gasp under my breath once more from the new familiar face

Clement.

I take a deep breath "stay cool" I say to myself quietly as I witness this all from behind Professor Sycamore

Clement takes a few pants before asking "-So how is froakie?"

Sycamore lends out a hand for clement, who takes it, and pulls him up "come, I'll show you where Sophie's healing him"

Syacmore begins to walk towards the right exit, Ash, Bonnie and clement following after him

"W-wait!" I stutter, as I race after them like a third wheel

He guides us through a long hallway, before stopping near the end. He points to the left.

We all turn to see a medical room, where Sophie stands in. Froakie is lying in an incupator-like capsule in the center of the room

"Will he be ok?" I ask, despite knowing the answer due to watching for myself what happens in the anime. However, it's much more emotionally impacting if you see it in real life

If this reality I'm currently living in is even real

"Yes, Sophie's a specially trained nurse and she's got plenty of high-tech equipment. Froakie will be better in no time. She's the best at what she does" the Professor replies, calm and collected now that froakie's safe

"Well that's good to hear" Ash sighs, pikachu giving a "pika-pika" in agreement from the comfort of his trainer's shoulder.

"Well, shall we leave her to her work?" The professor asks rhetorically, before leading us down the last stretch of corridor, and through double doors

The room we're presented with is what you'd expect from a rich school's staff room. An oddly specific example one would point out...-

A few sofas and a large coffee table, bookshelves and plant pots around the room as well as a few tables and technological equipment

Ok, maybe the school doesn't have to be _rich_.

But it's still an inviting room

"Please, sit" the Professor prompts, indicating the sofas. We all oblige and relax into the soft fabric

"Now, I'm sure most of us haven't been introduced properly. I'm professor Sycamore, and I work here as a researcher of Pokémon" the Professor smiles

"Hi, I'm Ash from Pallet town, and this is my partner: pikachu"

"Pika-pi!"

I resist the urge to say the iconic phrase with them. It would seem very suspicious if I did so, obviously. And the last thing I want is having people ask questions I can't answer.

"Oh! I'm Bonnie, and this is my big brother Clement!" Bonnie cheers "we live here in Lumiose city!"

Everyone then turns to me. It's my turn. I freeze on the spot. Don't freeze Hannah, don't freak out!

I swallow "um, I'm Hannah. I'm from Lumiose city as well"

"Yes, you only live a few minuets away don't you?" sycamore smiles, a little bit too creepy for my taste, but maybe I'm just being paranoid

I cough "Yes."

Ash chuckles "Well me and my partner pikachu came all the way here from Kanto!" He declares proudly, the focus of the group panning back to him. I let out a relieved sigh. It's not easy having a group of fictional characters you look up to have their entire attention dedicated to you at once. I'm afraid I'm going to have to get used to it though- or else I won't pull through in this world

"Kanto you say?" Professor Sycamore asks, intrigued as to Ash's origin

"Yeah! I traveled here to train and become the worlds greatest Pokémon master!" Ash cheers, pikachu giving supportive 'pika!'s alongside him

Syacmore chuckles at this "Well then welcome to Kalos, I hope you enjoy your stay." His choice of words remind me of a steward once you've landed at your destination after a long flight. Don't think the job would suit him though... "We also really appreciate you saving froakie" he adds

"The truth is" Ash begins, lowering his tone "froakie saved us. I'm just scared of how worried his trainer must be"

Syacmore sighs "you see, froakie's trainer called earlier today. They said they wanted to give up froakie" he explains solemnly

"What- Why?" Bonnie asks with a childish yet genuine frown "poor froakie"

"I'm afraid this isn't the first trainer who has given up that particular froakie." Sycamore sighs again, frowning into his chest, before looking back at us with sorrow "you see, one of my responsibilities as a professor is to give trainers their first Pokémon. Froakie is one of the three Pokémon they have to choose from. However this particular froakie is... different. He refuses to listen to his trainer, there has been times where froakie has ran away because he didn't like his trainer, and several children have travelled all the way back here simply to return him"

Clement, Bonnie and Ash gasp at this. This is all new news to them. But not to me. I-I've seen this scene before. Countless times. I recognize what he's saying, I could even recite some of the lines. But this is all new and in the moment for them. And so it should be for me as well...

But it's not

"You mean this has happened more than once?" Ash asks through recovering shock

"I'm afraid so, but I'm sure froakie acts that way for a reason" the Professor sighs

"So froakie has a hard life" Bonnie sadly states

"I've heard of several rumors where a trainer's Pokémon fits your description, but it seamed absurd so I never believed it" Clement exclaims

If something so simple is so unbelievable, is it really _that_ expected for Pokémon to follow orders once caught?

I glance over to pikachu

I guess it must be quite rare and rather special cases for disobedience to happen, then...

"Gar gar!" A small yet deep roar is heard from outside the room.

Sycamore stands up, becoming completely distracted from the serious topic we were discussing- I say we, I've been awfully quite haven't I? Maybe I should try talking more so suspicion levels don't start rising- "it's ok garchomp, come in" he calls out

A pause rings out, before the double doors to the room slowly open, and a tall, repltile Pokémon steps in carefully.

"Woah a garchomp!" Ash chuckles as he stands up as well

"Wow. I've never seen one in real life before" I marvel, utterly amazed at the display

Sycamore steps up to garchomp and pats him on the head softly "it's ok, he's going to be alright" he reassures "I can tell you're worried about froakie". Garchomp lowers his head sadly and grumbles- in a sorrow filled way, not a whispering-behind-your-back kind of way.

Syacmore turns to all of us to introduce him "this is Garchomp. He helps me around the lab. He's known for being really kind around other Pokémon and people"

Ash walks up to garchomp confidently, and reaches up to pat him on the head "good to meet you garchomp" he smiles, pikachu patting Garchomp as well.

I freeze in place. The garchomp. It's so huge. It looks so strong and powerful. Pokémon really do just roam around don't they? No matter how big and terrifying they are. No one is intimidated by his presence. Watching him on a screen isn't all that overwhelming, but when you stand from someone else's perspective, looking up at this huge, strong and powerful dragon, you really do appreciate it's natural intimidating presence

"Say, Hannah! I'm so sorry to forget!" Syacmore suddenly exclaims dramatically "you were here to get your first Pokémon weren't you!"

"I- I was?" I ask, the attention so suddenly being brought back to me. I fiddle with my hoody, placing my hands in my pockets to hide my shaking "Yeah..., yeah I was wasn't I?"

"Oh! Congratulations! Sorry to have interrupted you on such an important day" Clement congratulates with such a formal tone, it makes me feel more special than I really am.

"Not fair, I want a Pokémon!" Bonnie melodramatically exclaims with a pout

Clement gives a defeated sigh and pats her on the head "in a few years, Bonnie"

"Please, if you would come this way. Can the rest of you wait here?" The professor requests

Without thinking much about it, I suddenly interject "no, they can come too... if they'd like" I add

"Of course!" The professor smiles, before turning to the other three "Well?" He asks

"I'll catch up. I want to go see froakie first" Ash chuckles, pikachu giving another 'pika pika' in confirmation. No one can ever tell what he's saying. It must be quite annoying, having a voice but yet not being heard. We think of Pokémon as less intelligible- being unable to communicate with us. But the truth is, they can understand each other _and_ us. We can only understand our own species.

It's all about perspective- isn't it?

We all make our way back to the main lobby, garchomp following us. Ash cuts off to where froakie remains recovering, Sophie still tending to him. I catch a glance of Froakie gaining consciousness as Ash enters. He already seems to be in far better shape already

We reach the main hall and Clement and Bonnie step back as Sycamore clasps his hands together "Right, I'm proud to confirm we _do_ have all of our starter Pokémon to choose from. Some days we only have one or two, sometimes none. So today's your lucky day Hannah!" He swings his arms casually behind his back and rocks back onto the heels of his shoes "It just makes It harder to choose!"

"No, it's fine" I chuckles dismissively

"Well then, if you would please-"

The doors behind us suddenly burst open and three figures step in

"Hello?" The professor asks, curious and agitated. Nobody was really expecting this, not even me. This doesn't happen in the anime, at least not _this_ early

But then again, _I_ don't happen in the anime

"Why hello!" One of the figures chuckle with a familiar voice. He wears a long white lab coat and a pair of fake glasses

I know who they are... it's team rocket! They're in one of their awful disguises! How ash and the gang never recognize them is beyond me...

"Oh, fellow researcher" another figure with red hair- obviously Jessie, steps forward "we've come to research your Pokémon!"

"I don't remember calling in any researchers" the professor frowns, almost getting angry. At least he can tell something's off about this.

But I must resist the urge to call out who it CLEARLY is. It's really hard not to drop the bomb when you think they're going to be up to no good. I glance back at garchomp and frown

I _know_ they're up to no good

Meowth notices me glancing at the reptilian dragon. He tugs Jessie and James in towards him and whispers something into their ears. The three finally separate with menacing yet goofy grins spread across their faces

"Heh heh heh" they chuckle with villainous mischief


	4. 4: Diving into disasters

**Hey guys, just a little note...**

 **I didn't expect this chapter to take as long as it did, especially taking into concideration that this chapter is rather short... however life does have its unexpectancies and difficulties, homework being the main driving factor**

 **anywho, though the chapter isnt of the highest, highest quality, I didnt want to make you all have to wait 'till friday, so here I sat at night, finnishing off checking the chapter. now, I wont delay you much longer... enjoy**

Episode 4

"Who are you?" The Professor persists, more harshly than before

"Oh, you'll know who we are" the three smirk before James suddenly throws out a cubic devise aimed for Garchomp's neck. The reptilian has been standing patiently behind us- though his admirable height means he stands out like a light bulb in an alleyway amongst us as a crowd

"No!" I call out, the only one knowing what comes next. I rush up to Garchomp as the devise projects a blue collar around his neck.

"What's happening?" Clement asks, everyone else unmoving in confusion

Garchomp suddenly screams out in pain, the devise sending out sparks. He grips onto the collar, and tugs at it with his claws, though the energy it's made of only brings him more pain at this

The Professor pushes in front of me and asks fiercely at the trio "what is the meaning of this?"

"Oh don't worry" Meowth chuckles "it's only part of the research"

"Stop! Your hurting garchomp!" Bonnie begs

Suddenly, amungst the panic, a battle cry can be heard before a small, injured figure lunges at Garchomp's neck, trying to break the collar

"Froakie!" Sycamore exclaims "you're too injured!"

"I'm sorry professor!" Ash exclaims as he jogs in after Froakie, panting after having clearly ran after the amphibian "he refused to stay down!"

Froakie is then thrown back from the energy being emitted from the collar, Ash lunging and catching the water frog Pokémon before he hits the floor

"Now, come with us~!" Jessie cheers eerily to Garchomp, prompting him forward with a waving hand

Garchomp squirms and panics in pain from the collar, stomping around. We all take a few steps back and turn to face him sympathetically during his struggle. There really isn't much we can do at present

Amungst the pain, he charges up a hyper beam, and fires it off randomly around the room

Everyone screams and ducks under it, narrowly missing being hit by the pain-driven move. However, the walls and decorations around the room suffer great destruction

Garchomp stomps more, thrashing around and crashing into the walls, gasping with painful growls and roars

"Garchomp! Resist it!" I desperately call out, the only of the group who have much of an idea on what's _really_ hoing on

But it's too late. His collar glows a deep red, the same colour change occurring in his eyes. He stops moving so violently, and his breathing steadies, but he's clearly not himself and is obviously still in a lot of pain

"Ok, that's it. Who are you?" The Professor furiously demands, stamping his foot down vigorously at the trio

The three chuckle, unfazed, before they grab onto their lab coats and tug them off, presenting their uniform and revealing their identity

"Team Rocket?!" Ash, Bonnie and Clement exclaim, the reveal not being much of a shock to me, though I really should be acting more surprised as cover...

"Who's that?" Sycamore asks desperately as he watches Garchomp with eyes of sorrow. The poor, kind-hearted dragon deserves none of this

"They're bad guys who try steal other people's Pokémon. They're the ones who hurt Froakie" Ash explains sternly

"We don't _try_ " Meowth chuckles "we succeed!"

"It can't be, a talking meowth!" Sycamore exclaims with horror-filled shock

"Oh, glad to see I have fans" Meowth jokes as he hops down from atop Wobbuffet's head "now we'll be taking the big guy for ourselves!"

Garchomp, through so much pain, begins charging up another hyper beam, before blindly firing it at team rocket, catching them off guard

"Oh no!" Jessie cries. The group is hit with the powerful move and they cry out before they're are launched up and out of the building from the blast, leaving a large hole in the roof. Surely if they crash through the ceiling like that, they should break several bones... no?

Perhaps we're more resilient in this dimension... I mean it would make sense, having grown and evolved alongside powerful Pokémon since our existence, adapting to stand a better chance when being hit by one of their moves. Explains a lot too.

With Team Rocket now gone, everyone's attention snaps back to Garchomp. We all lunge at him, and attempt to break off the collar, though to little success

Garchomp sends out a large roar, and knocks everyone back. He lets out another cry, before stomping wildly and in a zigzagging manner, he crashes towards the door, and breaks through it

"Oh no! Garchomp's running away!" Bonnie exclaims

"He's not acting himself!" Sycamore cries out

"It's the collar!" I explain loudly through a breaking, panicked voice "it's putting him through great pain to resist it!"

"Team Rocket" Ash growls under his breath in rage, before suddenly bursting out into a sprint, running out of the building after the dragonic reptile, the injured Froakie alongside him

"Ash! It could be dangerous!" Sycamore calls after him. The Professor runs after him, and we follow.

We see Garchomp stomping around as he rampages down the road, smashing into cars and sending out stay hyper beams

I watch as he takes off into the sky- never got how Garchomp managed to fly with such small wings- his flight path rugged and his altitude wobbling. He clearly doesn't have much power over himself- and is fighting to stay in control

Ash, Pikachu and Froakie turn a sharp corner that leads to Lumiose city's center- where the tower is

Garchomp lands on the side of the building. News crews in helicopters fly around him, already having picked up on the situation. Once in the central area, I stop running to watch as the others race towards the scene- towards the danger

We watch things like this happen all the time on tv, but we don't react much to it. It's because we know it's not real, and even if the plot is based off a true story, what you're watching isn't really happening to who you're watching. And in animation it's even easier because they don't even look real. However... when you watch as part of the scene, even from the background, it's like it's happening in real life. The adrenaline, The fluttering heart, the rapid breathing. You're in the moment.

Even though I know everything's going to be ok...

I glance over to the side of the tower and watch as Clement and Bonnie try to help Ash get inside the building. I run over to them and join in on the conversation

I glance back up to Garchomp, who's sending off random hyper beams. The camera crew ends up having to dodge a few. I sigh. "Poor Garchomp. I can't imagine how much pain he's in"

"Yeah, I've got to help him" Ash agrees, Pikachu giving off a cute yet determined expression

Clement opens the door with his Aipom arm and nods "all clear, Ash" as the robot limb retracts back into his backpack

"Thanks Clement!" Ash thanks appreciatively

Suddenly, I feel a sharp pain in my forehead and, feeling something like a spidey-sense, I forcefully push Ash through the door, and I grab onto Clement and Bonnie mid sentence, and hoist them away from the entrance, just as a hyper beam crashes down to where we once were standing, blocking off the entrance with collapsed bricks

I cough from the dust kicked up from this, and I help Clement and Bonnie up, they then instantly rush towards the heap of bricks. Clement calls out "Ash! Are you ok?"

A short but agonizing second passes before he replies "yeah, I need to go. Be safe!"

"Sure thing!" Clement says, before scooping up Bonnie and running to the front side of the tower where the main crowd is collected "is everything going to be alright?" Bonnie asks, rather concerned

"All will be fine." He reassures through panting breaths "Thanks Hannah, for saving us back there. How did you know it was going to hit us at that exact moment?" Clement asks

My eyes widen in realization of not knowing how I figured it out. It's like that feeling when you know someone's behind you. I didn't hear it, see it, anything like that. No, I just knew it was coming.

And it wasn't even about me knowing it from the anime, because the beam came down too early. The wrong timing.

"I- Magic I guess" I stutter the horrible excuse of an answer as Clement places Bonnie on the floor

"Noncence!" Clement huffs, fiddling with his glasses "nothing can be explained simply with 'magic'! There must be some scientific reasoning" Clement begins, getting completely off track of topic

"Oh boy..." Bonnie sighs, before ramming Clement's leg with her elbow, Clement yelps in pain "now's not the time big brother! Look!"

She points up to near the top of the tower, where we see Ash, Pikachu and Froakie slowly approaching Garchomp

"How did he get up there so quickly?" Clement rhetorically asks, holding up a thinking finger to his chin

I feel the temptation to reply with 'Magic' but I decide not the pull that string with him.

Wait... if the timing of the hyper beam hitting the floor was behind... what if my presence set some event's timing off a bit

What if ash saved garchomp too late

Or he jumped off the building too early

And mega blaziken wasn't fast enough to save him

Panic now rising, I frantically search around. Blaziken mask should be around by now. I finally spot Meyer from within of the rear of the crowd, currently facing away from the scene.

I stare at him with wide eyes, too scared to even move. What If me interfering mucks everything up?

What if me _not_ interfering mucks everything up?

My eyes glide down to his belt, where I find a Pokéball. Blaziken isn't even out yet. Just then, I feel another sudden, sharp pain in my head and like that, Meyer's posture becomes alert, and he grabs onto the pokeball from his belt, releasing blaziken. With no one else watching, he throws on his disguise and begins to mega evolve blaziken

I turn back to where Ash is, just to catch pikachu falling off the building. I gasp. I know what's going to happen- or what should- but it's so much more frightening seeing it actually happen. The news crew get a spotlight on pikachu as he falls. Ash places down Froakie, before lunging off the building head first for Pikachu. A few people scream at this and a lady even faints into her daughter's arms

Ash catches Pikachu mid fall, and they continue to descend in each other's arms, both falling headfirst, eyes wide open as the ground rapidly approaches

"Use flame charge!" Blaziken mask's voice rings out from behind me.

I hold my breath as mega Blaziken bursts through the air, catching Ash and Pikachu last second before hitting the floor, and carefully swooping him down to safety upon flooring of the city center in the middle floor of the crowd of shocked people

Bonnie, Clement and the Professor run over to him and bombard him with affection. The crowd and news team head towards him as well, leaving me standing by myself, bewildered.

I rub my head in pain. That's twice I've got an agonizing headache within only a few minuets. The first time I could tell when the hyper beam would come crashing down, and the second time was when I was worrying over the times of events, when something out of the blue somehow prompted Meyer to know when to take action

Just thinking about this hurts my head even more. I glance back over to where Ash is, as he's being interviewed. Garchomp-now freed- flyies Froakie down.

I wince as I feel another pain in my head. I trace my hands over my forehead, before I feel a bump. I don't remember hitting my head...

The bump... it doesn't feel like skin, or at least it's different to my own. Much more thinner, something a bit more squishy underneath. Another sharp pain and I feel the bump contract back into my head, returning to normal as if nothing had occurred

"Huh..." I stutter, before looking back over to ash. I trot over, deciding to join them. I must just be a bit delusional after watching Ash and Pikachu's near death experience

"...and why did you decide to jump off the building?" I hear a news reporter ask as I get within hearing range

Ash glances up to Pikachu who sits comfortably on his head as if nothing ever happened, before looking back at the camera "Me and my buddie have gone through lots. Near death circumstances, traveling the world, sharing secrets. He's sacrificed so much for me and I sacrifice everything for him. I didn't think twice before jumping off. I saw my buddy was in danger and I went for it"

Huh...

"And how long have you been with your Pikachu?" The news reporter asks

I look at Ash's eyes. I don't think anyone else notices it, but he hesitates. Like the news reporter asked a question he can't answer, or can't risk answering. Surely he should be able to say how long he's been with Pikachu?

"Well, to be honest. I don't remember a time without him. All I know is it's been a long journey" Ash chuckles

I frown at this again. His choice of words...

Ash catches me from the corner of the crowd and just... stares at me. I freeze on the spot. What did he see?

He bites his bottom lip before looking back at the camera "Thank you for speaking with us" the news reporter smiles

"It's been a pleasure" Ash nods with a smile of his own, Pikachu 'pika'-ing in agreement

The news reporters stop their recording and pack up their stuff quicker than anly camera crew back in my home world. From then on, the crowd disbands like that. No further prompts needed. They just leave, like nothing ever happened- forgetting about it all.


	5. I'm back! (Again so sorry)

Hey... -inhaled deeply- where to start

I might be running all of your patience thin with the huge hiatuses I keep taking ( and I thank you, Glace2 , for sticking with me when I restarted, I hope you're still here... the fact that you hadn't lost interest after my first long hiatus really meant a lot to me. And anyone else who reads that just so happens not to comment often) but I want to try again to keep it up

I'm not going to restart. And I'm gonna make a schedule. Every Monday and Friday is what I aim for, with wednesdays if I'm ahead of schedule. I hope for updates to start again on the 1st of July and I'm going to be writing and editing at least 5 chapters ahead at all times. If I drop below this number, there won't be updates on the Wednesday until I pick back up again. And with the summer holiday soon approaching, I shouldn't get caught back up in homework

I'm also going to be asking a friend and fan of mine to help edit each chapters. So yeah. Hopefully better quality on that note

Speaking of quality, I'm going to try and make the plots less confusing. And I'm going give character development of Hannah's Pokémon a good kick up the mountain of story writing. As well as trying to include the gang and the xy/xyz plotline in the story way more than I did last time when more elementals begin appearing.

But thank you for reading, new and old, and I'll see you all on the 1st with chapter 5!

~Hannah


	6. 5: STARTERS!

**Guess who's back from the dead! it is i! I'm trying to make a commitment and making a schedule worked! so please, enjoy the long awaited chapter!**

Chapter 5 "STARTERS!"

It's just Sycamore, Bonnie, Clement, Ash and me left. The Surrounding area of central Kalos' Luminos city tower is deserted. Even after a kid just threw himself off a building. Not a soul in sight

"I'm just so glad you're ok!" Bonnie exclaims as she lunges at Ash and brings him into a tight hug, almost tackling him over in the process

"Yes, and thank you for saving Garchomp" the Professor adds with a smile as Garchomp approaches him. The Professor pets the large dragon reassuringly on the head as he 'rawrs' apologetically, head bowed. Garchomp must feel so guilty about this all dispute it happening whilst he was being controlled. I'm surprised the police force didn't try to tackle him down. The police force... isn't it just officer Jenny? It can't be. That wouldn't be reliable for such a large city as this

Froakie bounces up behind Ash.

"Well. I'm glad everything's over" Bonnie pouts as she places her hands on her hips. Her childish attitude to everything really helps the rest of us relax and not stand so tensely. But her straight forward words do speak the truth. We're glad the whole scenario is all over.

Clement frowns, before turning to me with a not quite confused expression. Almost as if he's trying to remember something "Hannah, didn't the Professor say something about you getting your starter today?" He asks

"Oh my goodness!" Syacmore exclaims dramatically his posture completely perking up before I can reply. He places his hand on his forehead, irritated by himself "I completely forgot! I'm so sorry Hannah!" He panics "please, let's get you back to the lab to get your pokemon!"

"Oh yeah, sorry we kind of held you back on that... a lot" Ash chuckles apologetically, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly

I wave my hand back "No, No, no... it's fine! I should be more worried as to how close that was! If that Pokémon wasn't there to save you- well..."

Ash smiles sheepishly and scratches under pikachu's neck affectionately. None of us want to think about what would have happened. Surely someone must have had their own Pokémon to help? Like a driffploom or... pretty much anything "well, it's over now isnt it. Everyone's safe- no one got hurt"

"I got hurt! Seeing you jump off the building like that have me a heart attack!" Bonnie exclaims dramatically, holding her hand to her chest. Clement sighs and pats her on the head with a defeated expression. She surely must be a handful

"Well, should we get back to the lab then? Sophie must be absolutely terrified" the Professor prompts

With no further objections, we all hastily make our way back to the lab. Ash and pikachu just... act normally. They'd just been thrown off a building, falling to their death... but they just seamed to have shrugged it off. Now that's weird, even keeping in mind everything he's been through.

According to the anime

We reach the lab and we step through the door, trudging over rubble that litters the floor. Dust and fallen plaster chunks infest the once spotless carpet

Sycamore lets out a sigh and rubs the back of his neck "I guess you'll be getting your Pokémon elsewhere else Hannah, sorry. This is the room new trainers usually receive their starter Pokémon, but as you can see..." he closes the doors behind us carefully; they look like they could just fall off their hinges from a small gust of wing. And with a rampaging garchomp-shaped hole in the middle of the doors, the poor kind-hearted Pokémon can't stand being in this room. Everything here was destroyed by him.

"It's fine" I smile "I mean, it's not your fault is it?" I tell Garchomp sympathy, giving him a small hug and a pat on the back to try and cheer the friendly dragon up

"And yet I'll still have to pay for it" The Professor chuckles with a defeated smile. It's not exactly going to be cheap. Considering the sparkling condition everything was in before team rocket happened.

He begins walking to the middle exit, having to take a big step over a bunch of rubble blocking the way whilst Bonnie climbs over it like it's some mini mountain hike.

Then, corridor's lighting suddenly flickers off. We all stand tense in anticipation. Now we're completely back on edge.

"It's fine" the Professor dismisses with a wave of the hand as he continues to walk, the lights flicker back on again shortly after "those fennekin..." he mutters under his breath

I turn around to check if everyone's here, and haven't been snatched off during that brief blackout.

"Froakie" I say aloud, twirling around on the spot looking for him in a stupid fashion

"Oh, he disappears and appears when he pleases- don't worry." The professor says dismissively as he places a hand on my shoulder, stopping me from getting dizzy before I hurl "he can handle himself. Sometimes he just appears out of nowhere and scares the living daylights out of us"

We continue walking the last stretch of corridor, before turning into a large, greenhouse-like room with beautiful lush grass, glistening water and tall, leafy trees. Pokémon of all species play around and relax with the artificial environment. Mostly small Forrest-plain Pokémon. Common pokemon is a bit of a cruel term considering they're living things.

"Woah!" Ash chuckles as he marvels at the brilliant nature-filled room

"There's so many of them!" Bonnie giggles, before running to and scooping up the closest Pokémon- a zigzagoon

Sycamore stands there, hands on hips and smiling like a proud father, before calling out suddenly and loudly (admittedly making me jerk in my marvelling) "STARTERS!"

All the the Pokémon in the room glance over to him, suddenly motionless. Only moments later, 5 Pokémon come forth, 3 of them being the same species, and pushing against each other to the front.

3 fennekin, a chespin and a froakie

The fennekin all line up before me hastily, the Chespie and Froakie slowly trotting behind them "Er..." I stutter. One of them sits there mischievously, their expression reminiscent of a Zorua. One sits politely, their fur completely smooth and brushed. The other isn't even sitting, hopping side to side with energy and enthusiasm

Sycamore presses two fingers on his forehead and chuckles "fennekin, what did I tell you? Only one of you can present yourselves forward" he says, as the froakie and chespin stride beside them. The fennekin all simultaneously tilt their heads to the right in confusion. Got to admit, it's extremelycute.

Sycamore sighs again, before looking towards me, mouthing 'sorry'. I nod my head in sympathy before he turns black to the Pokémon.

He kneels down, sitting on his heels before explaining slowly with rather unnecessary yet detailed hand gestures "only oneof you can present yourself to the girl. She has the choice between a froakie, chespin and a fennekin. Only oneeach."

The fennekin turn to eachother. Two of them still in confusion, the one on the right, however- the one with a mischievous look- grins wickedly

With one swift movement, the far right fennekin turns around and with her small but strong legs, she kicks the other two fennekin away, as they land on top of the chespin and froakie.

Syacmore sighs again and smiles softly "fine, youcan stay" he turns to us again, our confused and astonished faces showing that an explanation is needed "these five are the only starters I have left. The three fennekin are triplets, quite young for starter Pokémon. They've never been separated before. Born in captivity"

The other two fennekin scramble off the chespin and froakie, looking back to their sister with a sad, 'good-bye forever look', mixed in with jealousy- before running away to the other Pokémon playfully

Chespin and froakie get up, before the three starter pokemon come closer to me

The professor chuckles tiredly- all that hard work for very little- before announcing "Hannah, these are the three Pokémon you have to choose from. Choose wisely! There's no need to rush"

I nod towards him, before looking back over the Pokémon.

I take a shuddering breath. This is actually happening. When looking at a screen with the three of them lined up without emotions or personalities, it's much easier to choose, and the gravity of your decision is far weaker, but now...

This is a choice that will last with me for lifetime here in this Pokémon world

And I'm pretty certain I'm not going to be escaping this reality any time soon

So I need to think about this

I look at the chespin. Male. He's rather small, and looks timidly up to me. Whenever we make eye contact he quickly cowers, hiding his face with his arms, cute... but maybe no. It might be fun to try and build up his confidence. And work together to get stronger- but maybe it's not very practical. And I don't really feel any connection between the two of us, more importantly- and quite frankly- I am the opposite to shy.

The froakie is also male. He sits there very lazily, slouching in his position. His frubbles foam up to cover must of his head, and I'm pretty sure he's sleeping. We would not work well together. The main skills of a froakie are nibble actions... I recon he'd only really be faster than a shuckle. Once more, I am the opposite of lazy (or at least when I start doing something. Takes me quite the emotional motivation to get up and do stuff.)

And finally the fennekin, She has fire in her eyes, and mischief in her smile. She sits there proudly, staring right up into my eyes with dangerous confidence. She giggles under her breath and snorts out a weak ember to impress me. A few flames lick the froakie's skin, burning him slightly- but enough to wake him up. He looks around groggily, up at me, shrugs then falls back asleep again. Ok... so that's an even more definite nope for the Froakie

Of all the Pokémon, fennekin seams like the only one who actually wants to be chosen. I don't want a Pokémon who doesn't want me... and I feel a connection to the fennekin, like fate drawing me in

But I don't want to rush this, Perhaps it's simply the other two are bad at first impressions

Then again... the fennekin. I sense something off of her. Something that makes me want to choose her, like I'm willingly being forced to

I'm trying to be optimistic but... I really believe the fennekin is the one for me

I look up to Professor sycamore, then back at the gang. What would my mum think? What did clafable think?

He thought I should go with fennekin

Maybe he's right

Actually, I think he is right

No- he is right.

I bend down in front of fennekin. Her eyes widen and her tale slaps furiously against the floor in excitement

"Fennekin" I swallow "will you-"

Before I can finish the very emotionally impacting line, fennekin leaps unto my arms and tackles me into a hug

I fall backwards onto the grass and fennekin giggles at this, holding a paw on my chest where my heart is. She gives off a small bark

A yes

I chuckle as I hold her back so I can sit up. Her tail doesn't stop wagging and she beams like the sun from glee

"Excellent choice Hannah! I had a feeling you'd choose her" The professor smiles, reaching into his pocket "would you like to give her a name?"

I look back at fennekin, thinking of options. Flare? Blaze? Scorch? No... too childish and obvious. How about a human name? Leyla? Mia? Charlotte?

Fennekin barks

I look back up to Syacmore and I smile "no, I think Fennekin will just work fine for us"

"Great! Well, here you are" the Professor smiles, holding forward a Pokédex and a premier ball. I take the two in my right hand, stroking Fennekin's head with my left. I look at the premier ball with uncertainty

"Something wrong?" Clement asks. I'd forgotten they where there for a moment, as I turn around sharply to face them with a short period of being stunned

"No... it's just... don't you usually only hand out normal pokeballs?" I ask the professor

Syacmore smiles sheepishly and scratches the side of his head, a common trait I've easily seen "you see, I left the pokeball I was going to give you lying around somewhere, so this is the only I have on me- if that's ok?"

I nod with a smile "perfect"

I turn back to fennekin with a shaky breath, holding the pokeball so the button's facing her "fennekin, I choose-"

Boop!

Fennekin glows red, her paw resting firmly on the premier ball's button. She barks enthusiastically, before her form turns into energy, and she's sucked into the pokeball

I look at the ball, stunned. It rolls in my hand, 1. 2... 3...

...

... ...

CLICK!

My heart skips a beat and I let out a deep breath. I have my own Pokémon. My own living, breathing Pokémon

Fennekin was my first Pokémon ever in the games, but this is real life. This is a much bigger thing. This time fennekin is real. With a personality and actual powers. It'll evolve and grow with me, eventually into a delphox, and become psychic type

And psychic type is my favorite typing

I shudder another breath before standing up, still looking at the pokeball

Bonnie claps furiously from behind her "Yay! Hannah's gotten her first Pokémon!" She cheers, dancing around me "let me see it, let me see it!" She chants childishly, forcing a smile on all of our faces

I chuckle, before looking at the pokeball

Er... how do I let her out? I force the Pokémon forward with my hand, and I almost jump back as I feel the force of it opening and white energy spewing out and taking the form of fennekin

Once released, fennekin barks again and wags her tail. She looks so happy it lights up the room

"Awww!" Bonnie giggles, as she lunges down to pick her up. Fennekin licks her cheek wildly as Bonnie cuddles her. The two giggle in each other's arms

"Maybe next time" The professor sighs. I look to him, seeing he's petting the froakie and the chespin. The two give me an unreadable glance, before rushing back to the rest of the Pokémon in the room. Reassuring pats on the backs are given, some lunge at the two starter Pokémon with hugs, glad they get to stay

These Pokémon. They're each other's family. I glance over at fennekin. I'm taking her away from her home

She's coming willingly, but... she's probably not going to see them again.

Just with that, the two other fennekin- the energetic one being Male, and the polite and groomed one a female- rush towards Fennekin.

"Maybe I should have given her a name" I chuckle under my breath as I walk towards Bonnie and fennekin. At least with a name I can call her out from a crowd

"Let her say her goodbyes" I tell Bonnie, resting a palm on her shoulder

Bonnie gives a nod of understanding before bending down and releasing fennekin "say goodbye to your siblings! Your going to be going on a big adventure with Hannah!"

Fennekin hops down towards her siblings and bows, they bow in return. I can't help of think but my brother and sister as fennekin says her goodbyes, ruffling up their fur, and giving them playful slaps, the female being a bit more mature about it than the Male and my Fennekin. Yup. Names would be useful...

But will Iever seen mybrother and sister again?

I didn't even get a goodbye...

Fennekin, farewells finally said, hops back to me and tugs on my jeans

"Hmm?" I ask, as I bend down to her height. Using her legs, she springs onto my shoulder, before jumping up atop my head. I almost fall back- she looks light... but she's heavier than she seems. I slowly stand up, arms spread out for balance, and I turn slowly to face ash, careful shuffled steps taken "How do you do it?" I ask, referring to the Pokémon sitting upon my head. I'm actually quite good with balance, but considering she's a living, moving, heavy thing- this is a new experience for sure. My dog doesn't just hop on top of my head for fun, that's for certain

He chuckles, shaking his head and smiles at me "it comes naturally now... but god, when pikachu first hopped on my shoulder, I had other matters to concentrate on"

Ho-oh.

First time pikachu was on his shoulder was when Ho-oh flew overhead. So he does remember events from past series... though he rarely shows it in the anime...

But I'm not in the anime am I?

Well I am... but this isn't animated. This is realistic, real life that I'm now apparently part of

My deep thoughts have distracted me from fennekin, and I have subconsciously began to relax with her atop my head, almost forgetting she's there

"Well!" Sycamore clasps his hands together, stunning me out of my thoughts "the lab needs a bit of fixing up! I believe you lot should get home to your parents!"

Ash, Bonnie and Clement chuckle sheepishly

"My mother's in Kanto" Ash smiles

"And daddy's off on an important business trip!" Bonnie declares

"Gosh, independence of youngsters these days..." Sycamore smiles to himself under his breath, before turning to me "Well? Hannah?"

I frown and nod my head "Yeah, mums just round the corner. Perhaps you lot should come round, have somewhere to spend the night when the day finnishes" I suggest, not thinking much of what I'm saying, my mouth on autopilot. I never know when to shut up. Never have, never will

"Thanks that would be wonderful for you to accommodate us for the night" clement thanks

"No problem" I state, before realizing fully what I said, my eyes widening as I turn away to hide my reaction

Woahhhhhh

I just invited the main protagonists of theXy and XYZ gang to come to myhouse

And they said yes?!

I guess they just see me as another character in their story

Nope, nothing special about me

And we don't want them suspecting there is...

"Well, shall we leave then?" I ask almost shakily, turning back to them as I start calming down.

And so we leave the laboratory

Just as we get out of the building, through the Brocken doors, a small Pokémon cries out

"froakie-Ki!"

We all look down to see the injured froakie from before. Ash smiles before stepping forward and bending down in front of him. "thanks for saving us earlier today"

I hold my breath. I know what's going to happen

"Froakie-ki-fro!" Froakie exclaims, before reaching into a bulging part of his frubbles, and pulling out a pokeball

"Hey, that's mine!" Sycamore exclaims, fennekin giggles from atop my head. Don't see what's special about it. I just got 5 more pokeballs from a whole crate of them. Well, I guess they're not cheap...

"I think froakie wants you to catch it" Clement analytically states as Froakie places the pokeball in Ash's hands

Ash looks at the botton of the pokeball, then looks back at froakie. The froakie suddenly jumps up and slaps the button of the pokeball with his hand. We all gasp as he glows red and is sucked into the pokeball

Ash holds the pokeball and just stares at it. It doesn't roll around, it just... clicks

His face slowly creeps into a beam, and he stands up, not taking his eyes off the pokeball

Then, melodramatically, he holds it up into the air and exclaims "we caught a froakie!" And alongside him pikachu leaps up into the air, enthusiastically cheering

I smile down into my chest, looking down and fumbling with my fingers. Catching Pokémon really is a bigger deal in real life. In the games you're just like 'oh cool, that Pokémon has good moves and gets nice and strong, I'll catch it- grind train it against an endless supply of wild Pokémon hanging out in the not-really-that-long long grass, then use it against the gyms' but now... now it's a matter of friendship

Well, for most people at least

Ash chucks the pokeball up into the air, and once it reaches a certain height, it bounces as if hitting an invisible surface, and pops open

A white beam jets out and flows down to the floor, filling up into the form of froakie like water being poured into a frog-shaped invisible container. Once released, froakie leaps up to Ash, and perched himself on Ash's head

"Whoh!" Ash wobbles, trying to keep balance from the sudden weight being thrown atop his head

"Comes naturally now does it?" I ask, fennekin enjoying herself atop my head as she kicks her feet through giggles

Ash chuckles sheepishly as pikachu growls at froakie, almost trying to scare him off

"It's ok pikachu, I'm sure you can share me with froakie here" Ash smiles

Pikachu sulks before jumping off of Ash and stretching "I think you should probably stretch your legs, you always travel on me" Ash adds

Pikachu pulls a funny face as ash, before hopping over to Bonnie.

Bonnie cheers and scoops the electric mouse into her arms and brings him into a tight hug.

Pikachu sticks his tongue out cheekily at Ash.

Fennekin almost falls off the top of my head from laughter. She's already fitting in.

Fitting in... for her to fit in to us, we'd have to be a group?

The XY gang, am I fitting in alongside them?

I look at the group. They're treating me like one of them

I reach my hands up and I pluck fennekin up and off my head.

I turn her around so she looks at me. She frowns in confusion. I smile sweetly at her and try to construct the words I wish to say in my head

"Fennekin..." I begin, hoping the words will come to me if I start actually speaking "I understand you and your siblings had a great life back here at the lab" I say. Fennekin calms down, now understanding the importance of what I'm about to say "but now as my Pokémon- as my friend- I want the two of us to grow together and learn more about the world we live in." I swallow to finish off my mini speach "What I'm trying to say is- we might go through some hard times- no.. we will. It's inevitable. But what matters is that we stick together. I picked you as my pokemon, you said yes... but we need to understand what comes with that"

Fennekin nods solemnly, I smile before suddenly throwing her upwards. She spreads her legs out like a frightened cat but manages to land on my head "and let's have fun!" I call up to her

She takes a moment to recover literally being chucked up in the air, before giving off a confident bark

"Well, shall we get moving then?" I ask, speaking up so the rest of the group can hear

 **true fact: back before i even knew what a pokemon was, my first starter was fennekin. don't know if it was X or Y and the save file is long deleted (thanks deer brother) but fennekin is the main reason why i prefer fire starters over the other too. no matter what. But I'm out of the loooong hiatus now. see you all on Friday!**


	7. 6: Trampoline

**This one is kind of short and sweet. but the good news is that the summer holidays are starting soon so updates may start popping up on Wednesdays!**

Chapter 6- Trampoline

"Oh my baby!" Mother exclaims dramatically as she lunges at me with wide arms, tugging me into a suffocating embrace, rocking back and forth as she smothers me with affectionate kisses

"Mum!" I exclaim, absolutely red in the face. A mixture of both the lack of air I received in those few seconds, and the fact this was performed infront of Ash, Clement and Bonnie fuels the fire of my embarrassment

"Mrs Amulent, thank you for letting us stay the night" Clement bows dramatically and politely

Mum rests an arm around my shoulder, refusing to let me go, but waves Clement off with the other "please, it's fine. Thanks for looking after my little precious child"

I glow redder

"Oh! Hannah got her first Pokémon!" Bonnie giggles. She holds up Fennekin whom she holds in her hands, the image of her doing so greatly resembling the scene from the lion king

Mother drops me and lunges at Fennekin, scooping up the confused yet attention-loving fire fox up very high into the air "oh aren't your a cutey!"

Fennekin barks enthusiastically, embers flying off her ears

"And you scream strength!" Mother chuckles, before nodding and plopping Fennekin on my head "now you look after our little girl"

'Our'?

Fennekin can't help but giggle through her paw at this display of my mother. I shake my head and sigh "I see no difference between this woman and my mother from home world" I whisper under my breath

Fennekin perks up at this, having been able to hear what I said thanks to her huge, sensitive ears. I ignore her, pretending I didn't notice it to convince her she didn't hear it. I'm not ready to reveal anything yet. Still half convinced this is all just a a really awesome dream.

Mum opens the door behind us to our house and dramatically bows, her hand flailing around towards the door "If you would please, ladies and gentlemen"

Not. A. Difference. This mother is exactly the same as mum from home

"Thank you Mrs Amulent!" Clement thanks, Bonnie giggles and rushes after him into the house; I catch her telling her older brother he doesn't need to address mum so formally

Mum looks back at me after Ash has walked in and smiles "I see you have a good taste in friends. Your friend making skills really seem to be speeding up!"

"Thanks?" I thank, a little confused, as I step in after her

Clefable is waiting the hallway. He smiles and chirps "Clefa!" Before pointing at Fennekin

I chuckle sheepishly "yeah, I guess you were right about me choosing a fennekin" I smile, before kicking off my shoes roughly, adding onto the messy pile of footwear. I head into the living room and collapse onto one of the sofas, sprawling myself out, as I sink into the soft fabric

"My legs really hurt!" Bonnie exclaims "I'm not going to move!"

Clement perches himself neatly on a seat and sighs, before turning to me "thank you for letting us stay here for the night"

I sit off as I wave it off. Clement's extraordinary manners... "it's fine, I mean- we've all had an eventful day... you should have somewhere homely to stay."

Mum swings her head around the corner of the door enthusiastically with a wide smile "-Now what do you kids want to eat?"

"Could I ask what you have in stock before suggesting?" Clement asks politely

Mum laughs, and waves it off "oh don't you worry about that! Mamma's best at cooking everything! Anything you want, I can cook it better than any chef!"

"Pizza!" Bonnie exclaims

"Bonnie..." Clement scolds "what do you say?"

"Oh right" Bonnie frowns "...please?"

"Pizza for the ball of energy, Hannah I'll assume you'll want pasta?" Mum asks

I nod my head eagerly. "Yes please"

Mum then turns to the boys, almost falling over as she leans further in "and what do you boys want?" She asks

"I'll just have some of what Bonnie and Hannah are having" Ash requests

"Same here, please" Clement adds, the two trying not to make anything difficult

"Right! Pizza and pasta coming up!" Mum exclaims, before ducking back out of the room.

Bonnie giggles, before telling me "I like your mum!"

"Yeah, she's rather hyperactive for her age" I sigh with a smile. Fennekin barks atop my head in agreement

"So... What should we do?" Clement asks

"We could battle!" Ash suggest excitedly, bouncing up

"Hey! Fennekin and I are new to battling!" I defend, almost started at the suggestion of my first battle being thrown around so easily

"And Idon't have any Pokémon andbig brother's bunnelby's reallyreally tired from your battle!" Bonnie adds

"Awww" Ash sulks back down into the sofa "I guess we'll just have to stick with training..."

Pikachu and Froakie nod in agreement almost solemnly, but still enthusiastic about the idea

"Where are you going to practice?" Clement asks, as he stands up

"Oh! Our garden's big- not massive- but I suppose we could hold up some decent training there" I suggest as I too force myself with strong willpower to get of the cotton soft sofa

"Right! Lead the way Hannah!" Ash exclaims, also standing up as Bonnie does so too

I nod, as I swivel around, still a bit wobbly and uncertain with Fennekin's weight. I make my way through the house, through the dinning room connected to the kitchen then through the double doors to the garden.

My home-world house really is so similar to this one- though I've noticed everything seems a bit more clean. Probably because Clefable is around for extra help; though our dog does eat up any crumbs we spill.

"This is a good sized garden Hannah!" Clement says as we step out. There's the same creak of the doorframe when we pass, proving this is still the house I know and love

I nod my head. Seems the garden is still a bit bigger than I remember, but oh well. Similar enough

"Lets do some training!" Ash exclaims as he runs out onto the grass, before beginning to stretch along with Pikachu and Froakie

"Wait- why are you stretching?" I ask curiously, Fennekin making a similar confused sound, her weight shifting as she tilts her head to the side

Ash smiles at me and shakes his head "well, if we want to work as a team, we have to train together!"

I glance up to Fennekin "well?" I ask

She nods her head. Leaping down, She skilfully lands from the high jump, before cricking her neck and hopping side to side eagerly. A trait- I somehow remember and recognise- of her brother

I glance over to Ash and I chuckle "I agree" I say, as I grab onto my jumper, before hoisting it over my head, flipping off my hat in the process, I throw the jumper to the corner of the garden, dumped on a bunch of dirt "I should be training with fennekin as well"

I bend down to pick my cap of the floor, and I adjust it onto my head, before swinging my arms "take the lead, I'm new to this" I chuckle

Bonnie and Clement step back and perch themselves on some garden chairs on the patio furniture behind us, relaxing into the sun-heated seats

"Right, first decide what you want to train on" Ash informs, before turning to his buddy "Pikachu, let's train up your iron tail to better deflect moves!" Pikachu gives a determined spark of energy in agreement, holding his tail high- prepared for anything

"Ok then" I add, before turning to Fennekin. What is Fennekin good at? Well... considering she's a starter, she'll be around level 5, so she'll only know one fire move, a status move and a physical move. Perhaps we should focus on something else... what's something else she's good at?

Fennekin springs side to side on her toes, snorting fire off of her ears determinedly

"I think we should strengthen fennekin's legs" I say

"Huh..." Ash smiles unexpectedly, impressed maybe?

"W-What?" I ask, embarrassed... did I say something wrong? Maybe I'm doing this incorrectly...

"No, it's just... it's rare for trainers to strengthen something other than Pokémon moves... especially new trainers" he adds as he smiles down at Fennekin who continues to hold up her head arrogantly high

I chuckle sheepishly "guess I think differently then..."

"Ok then, Froakie, throw some of your frubbles at me and Pikachu. Pikachu, without using iron tail, try and break the frubbles into two. I'll try doing it with my hand" Ash informs, turning back to his own Pokémon

Pikachu and Froakie nod in understanding, before bending into battle position, hands and tails poised for the cue

"Ok... now!" Ash calls out

Froakie jumps onto the air, grabbing onto his frubble mane, before chucking two clumps of it at Ash and Pikachu. Pikachu lunges at a blob heading his way and turns in the air, attempting to slice the cluster into two. However, the bubbly substance isn't quite brocken, and it sticks to Pikachu's tail.

Meanwhile, Ash attempts to karate-chop the frubbles in half. But- just like Pikachu- it sticks to him

Fennekin bursts out laughing at this. Pikachu turns to her and sticks an irritated yet cheeky tongue out at her. Fennekin gasps sarcastically, before sticking her tongue out even further at him

"Let's try that again!" Ash encourages, as he shakes the frubbles off his hand, ignoring Pikachu's competition of pride with Fennekin

I turn to Fennekin, and I breath deeply "right..."

How to train a Pokémon's legs... I remember Ash and Froakie training their jumps and speed with Sanpei a few times, but we don't have the environment necessary.

Although...

I turn to the trampoline turned over on its side at the end of the garden; it's been sitting there, rotting away for a few years now. I start walking over to it with a grin on my face

"Fen?" Fennekin asks as she turns to me in confusion. However, once she sees what I've set out as a plan, she giggles mischievously, and follows after me, bouncing.

I roll the trampoline so it's not pinned on its side by the fence, and I push it over so it's the right way up. The heavy clang made as it falls alerts everyone and they look over to me, temporarily pausing in what they're doing

"What are you doing?" Clement asks curiously, standing up uncertainly as he's a little concerned

"Training" I smirk as I climb onto the trampoline alongside Fennekin

"I want to jump too!" Bonnie exclaims as she sprints across the garden to where we stand before Clement can get a word in edgewise, and clambers in.

I lightly bounce inside the trampoline, and I look down to fennekin "ok, I've noticed you've got really strong legs, and you've shown that strength a few times. I recon, we could somehow use your skills and embed it into your fighting style"

Fennekin nods in understanding as she sits down, bouncing her weight up and down.

"So let's jump!" I exclaim, I suddenly leap up to moderate height, then suddenly, I bend down my legs and pound down on the trampoline with all my power and weight, flinging Bonnie and Fennekin up into the air

"w-WOAH!" Bonnie chuckles as she flies down, bouncing up again in a cycle of giggles

"Ok Fennekin, try and concentrate all your weight and power into your legs at the last second, pushing down on the trampoline, and as you take off work through your feet and spring up as high as you can!" I instruct, thrusting my arms up as I explain

Fennekin nods as she bounces up and down, each time reaching up to about my height- undoubtedly impressive given her size

She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath as she jumps a few times- perfectly controlled- before suddenly doing what I said- and springing up high.

"Woooo!" Bonnie cheers before giggling, running on the spot; fennekin bursts up into the air supper high- unnaturally high.

After a few seconds- though that's a longtime to be airborne on a trampoline- Fennekin lands back down on the trampoline, before bouncing up again.

"Wow, that girl doesn't even need my help" I marvel as I watch her spring up and down. Who knew such little legs let her jump so unearthly high?

"Yes pikachu!" I hear Ash's voice from further down the garden. I snap my head around and look over to see Pikachu has finally managed to break apart a frubble bubble without using iron tail. "Ok Froakie, now that Pikachu's finally got hand on it, let's make it harder!"

I glance up at Fennekin and she spins and flips in the air, up and down. I think she's gotten hang of it as well. I call up "hang on Fennekin! I'm just going to get something!"

I spring off the trampoline and I sprint back into the house, emerging only moments later with a tub of tennis balls. Dad used to play tennis, and there's a bunch of tennis balls he's kept. Flat ones, burst ones, 'lucky' ones, perfectly fine ones, not-even-sure-this-even-used-to-be-a-tennis-ball ones...

"Bonnie!" I call out to the trampoline

She twirls around to face me as she bounces. I indicate with my hand to summon her over.

She jumps off the trampoline and sprints towards me, leaving Fennekin to enjoy herself, springing on the trampoline "Yeah?" She asks

"Hey, I've got some tennis balls here. Could you help me with something?" I ask, showing her the bucket

Bonnie's eyes widen with sparkles and her mouth stretched out into a beam "Yes!" She squeals excitedly

I blink and shake my head slightly "ok... I want you to throw these tennis balls at Fennekin"

"What- why? They could hurt her" Bonnie frowns

I hold up a flat, torn tennis ball, and I turn it in my hand "Bonnie, you'd have to throw this reallyhard for it to hurt her, and don't worry, we need to catch her by surprise and see how she copes with dodging midair"

"Ohhhhhh..." Bonnie gapes, before nodding her head, though I'm still not quite sure she gets it "sure, let's go!"

She lunges into the box, picking up a bunch of tennis balls, and I do the same. Loaded with ammo, the two of us look up at Fennekin. She bounces around, flipping and spinning and enjoying herself, completely oblivious to us

"Ok, three..." I begin, taking a ball into my right arm "two..." I get my weight back in my back foot "one..." we throw our arms back "go!"

We both chuck the tennis balls at Fennekin, timed so that as she jumps up, she's hit in the back. She yelps and turns to face us, only to see more tennis balls coming at her. Her eyes widen, before she flips around into an... odd position, so the tennis balls narrowly miss her, and she plumits down to the trampoline before spring up again

"That's it Fennekin! Make sure none of these touch you!" I call up as we fire more up at her. She continues to twist and turn, flip and spin, bounce and duck under all of the tennis balls.

"God, she's good" I huff. We're gonna need to up our game if we want to give her a proper chall-

"DINNER'S READY!" I voice calls out from inside the house. Everyone stops what they're doing, even Pikachu- Who ends up with a ball of frubbles on his face- and our attention turns to mum who stands just outside the house "come on while it's hot!"

Fennekin bounces off the trampoline and sprints to the door, zooming into the house.

"Someone's hungry" I chuckle as I run in after everyone else

Everyone sits down in our living room- the dining room not quite big enough for all the Pokémon, a little buffet in the middle of the room. Margarita and pepperoni pizza, pasta and spaghetti with two options of sauses and a cheese grater.

The six of up plus Pokémon all sit down to prepare to dig into the meal

"Hannah!" Mum says harshly as I lunge for the pasta. I freeze and turn to her- wondering what I did wrong this time. "Where's your jumper?" She asks

I bite my bottom lip, before standing up "be right back..."

I rush outside and I grab my jumper from the corner of the garden, covered in frubbles. I grumble and this as I jog back into the house and slowly creep back into the living room.

Mum sighs as she sees the frubbles that I attempt (and fail) to hide behind my back and she glances over at Froakie who hides behind Pikachu. "Chuck it in the washing machine, I'll clean it for tomorrow."

I nod my head as I quickly duck into the kitchen, throwing it in the empty clothe-cleaning machine before getting back into the living room and finally serving myself

A few moments of joyful eating is all that's heard before mum asks "so, I see you lot where training outside, had a good time?"

"Yeah! Pikachu's iron tail's defense has been boosted! And Froakie's frubble throwing speed has increased!" Ash chuckles "and I think I was hit a few times by Froakie"

"Well, we were helping Fennekin and making her legs stronger by bouncing on the trampoline!" Bonnie chuckles enthusiastically, slurping up a huge mass of spaghetti, only to be scolded by Clement for manners

Mum smirks "you kids haven't used that trampoline in years"

"Well, I'm sure we got distracted..." wait... she said kids. As in plural? So my brother and sister do exist in this world? "Hey mum, where's Alex and Isabelle?" I dare ask

Mum smiles "why, you know they're off with your father investigating reflection cave!" She chuckles "is that amnesia getting to you again?" She asks

"Yeah... I guess" I sigh in defeat. I need to remember that... 'amnesia'. It should prove as good cover for if I ask any 'silly questions' or let something slip...

Meanwhile, a teenaged girl, in a town south of Lumiose city, rewatches a recorded news report again. She can't get over herself. She's stuck in a loop of re-watching. Her brain flicking between two options:

'It's them' and 'I'm seeing things'

She pauses the video and rubs her brow irritably. The girl is no older than 13, with long, honey blond hair and fair skin along with a striking kalosian fashion.

She rewinds the video a notch, and sets it onto slow motion. Pressing play again, she presses her fingers against her forehead and sighs as she leans closer to the screen. She watches as the pixels slowly move along

A boy with Ash black hair leaps off the building after a pikachu, slowly plummeting towards the floor. A Pokémon swoops and saves him, bringing him to safety. As the news crew zoom in on him, there is a view of a girl behind the crowd of people, rubbing her forehead irritably. The girl in the image has brown, golden hair, a space cap on with the psychic symbol on it and a purple hoody

The girl pauses the video there. A shot where both the brown haired girl and the ash haired boy are in it. She stares hard at the pixels, trying to decipher if what she thinks she sees is true

"They... it been so long. Could it really be them?" The girl asks. Images flash before her eyes of the past. "It has to be; its got to be!" She exclaims "Hannah and Ash, they're here in Kalos!"

 **True Fact: The frame of the door leading out to my garden had always given off a distinct creak whenever any weight is put on it. its the small details that make your home yours**


End file.
